Nauseous Passengers ?!?
 

Recently, passengers driving with me have complained about being nauseous while driving on the highway in my 2011 X5 35i. I'm driving at normal highway speeds, no lane shifting, just cruising on the highway.

I shower often, so would anyone know why people would feel nauseous? Could it be the turbo lag? I never heard this complaint during the 5 years I had my 4.4i.

One trip, same group of passengers?

Or has this happened with different groups of passengers, different trips.

Seems nonsensical to me, (never heard of this as a complaint in 200,000 posts I've read) but lets see.....

My wife always gets sick when she rides with my but I think it has more to do with me driving then the X. :D

If it's just passengers and not you, it's not something in the air...

If they're not looking out the window like normal people, then that would be an answer cause if you notice when you bury your head and read something while moving, you can feel that way...

The other answer is I don't know.

I've had my 4-year-old daughter throw up couple of times on long drives. I don't drive harsh, so I assumed that the truck ride might have caused it as she is very much used to the soft ride of my wife's Honda Odyssey...

That's funny you say that. I have had my Mom, Spouse and a few friends complain that my '08 4.8i E70 and my now '11 35d make them nauseous. Also, my bff has a 2008 X3...and her in laws and kids do not want to ride in her X3, because it makes them want to barf. So odd!!

I am the other way. I don't have a problem with BMWs but in the back of a Suburban on a 6 hour interstate trip, I kind of felt that way, even though I'm almost never bothered by that.

Could it be the X simply allows one to take corners faster than most are used to?

I've made someone nauseous with an X3 (on a test drive, the purchase was vetoed in favor of a 5-series because of that), but never anyone in one of my X5s except myself!

The upper deck of a highway here had just been repaved and there was still a depression at every joint. Going over those rhythmic bumps for a few miles made me oh-so sick.

OP, do you have adaptive drive? I personally think that the current flock of E70s are pretty bouncy without it. Perhaps that's what set 'em off. My E53 had the 'you can't change the setting' sport suspension (ie teeth chatteringly stiff), and both my old E70 and new E71 have adaptive drive. I drive in sport mode almost all the time because I can't take the 'bouncy'. (Except today when I had 700lbs of rocks in the back -- I'm getting all kinds of eyes loading that kind of stuff into an X6 :) )

Good thing to know I'm not totally alone. I can't stand more than an hour in the backseat of the X5.

The closest anyone has come to throwing up in the X5, was while my brother was driving me home from my bachelor party on the morning of my wedding day. :p

I only make myself sick to my stomach after I take a corner or an on-ramp too fast....Reason? I can't believe I just did that in a 5500 pound SUV....:rofl:


Seriously though, never had anyone complain. However I do drive in Sport most of the time on good roads, I prefer the stiffer over the bouncier. When in parking garages with speed bumps - sport goes off.

My wife hated my '04 X3, literally made her ill. Just yesterday, she complained in our '11 X5. 10 minutes later she said it must have been the road. This after we did 1,000 miles from PA to MA and back just a week ago. She said the X5 is much better than the X3 ever was.

My 5 year old daughter gets sick in my vehicle all the time and my wife get nauseous as well. My wife sits in the back with the little one with the "puke towel" at the ready. When they are with me I drive very cautious and don't accelerate too fast. My wife complains the ride is "jerky". Thank goodness for gravol and those anti-nausea wrist bands!

Does anyone make a portable carbon-monoxide detector?

I think most people are used to the Buick float, not the firm BMW ride. I personally cannot stand to ride in an old Cadillac. 90 miles was my max in my dads old DeVille.

Weird...I have never had such a complaint in the last 5 years of hauling around people with my x5's. Neither had sport package, both on 18s. I do not drive particularly docile either.

My mother actually feels the x5 is very soothing on long trips, and she was coming out of a lexus rx300! I think its the ergonomic seat, and the windows and roof... shes somewhat claustrophobic. Furthermore my sister use to get motion sickness on trains etc, and she has never had an issue in my truck.

Do your passengers complain about this regularly? Or have they complained about it in the past? I am one of the ones who can't get motion sickness, with out putting my heD down in a car for hours, appon hours. It seams you either get car sick, or you don't.

So just cuirious as to where they fit. I highly doubt there is co2 but ya never know.

Ahh.. sorry i didn't get on here to read this. It seems lots of others experience nausea in the X too. My GF drives an 06 3-series, it's wicked stiff so I'm not sure if the stiffness is what is making her sick. My buddy who recently complained drives a pickup, not sure how that would affect him, but I know he is an avid boater and never gets sea sick .

I don't have adaptive drive, nor sport package, and I drive slower now than I did when I had my E53. Again, no complaints EVER in the E53, my GF actually misses it, and thinks it was a better car all around (I disagree).

I'm guessing it is the turbo, since there is a delayed but then very quick acceleration when you step on the pedal.

Someone once wrote an article that compared the ride of Japanese cars to Americans cars and concluded that it was our step size that made us feel uncormfortable in Japanese cars, and them uncomfortable in American cars.

Germans walk much faster than we do.

The best description he gave was of a mother holding a childs' hand and walking down the street.

What a silly thread this is...

If I were to post "my girlfriend is turned on after we drive" I'd get 30 people agreeing.

People get car sick when their attention is drawn from external clues The horizon, the road, the hills and trees) to interior features (the leather, the GPS, the radio, the dash..) This shift in focus can exacerbate kinetosis...and once one person complains, others in the can can sympathetically develop symptoms. Also, once experienced it becomes a self-fulfilling effect for the next drive.

But yeah, the E70 definitely causes most people to get sick:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

Sarcasm?

I thought it was a good question. Anyways, good explanation on nausea but the complaints were from two different people, on two different trips. NBD, but I was just wondering why. Both of these people have been on my boat with absolutely no complaints about sea sickness, so I don't think they're prone to motion sickness..

Yeah, sarcasm.

So what has this question and the answers revealed?

Have we (you) concluded that the X5 makes people sick?

Since it is 'sportier' than most SUV's it's probably driven more aggresively than usual. It doesn't explain highway motion sickness though. A friend of mine (a notoriously slow driver) just bought an E46. We pulled out of my driveway at the same time (me in my Cooper) and he FLEW down the mountain. After I realized he was no longer in sight, I tried to catch him but couldn't. Later I asked what got into him and he said "that BMW really grips the road!" Yup, they do.

I'm sticking to my theory. The turbo attached to this i6 provides such an aggressive acceleration following a slight turbo lag. I don't think people are used to it. My GF actually likes my old V8 4.4 better, probably since it didn't have the same turbo situation.

I enjoy the turbo i6 much more.

I think it is a simple case of "this vehicle is so awesome it makes me want to puke".

If you think nausea was indeed caused by the ride quality, you may consider replacing the tires to non runflat tires in order to reduce the unsprung weight, as the runflats are quite a bit heavier than non runflats.

From Wikipedia

a heavier wheel which moves less will not absorb as much vibration; the irregularities of the road surface will transfer to the cabin through the geometry of the suspension and hence ride quality and road noise are deteriorated. For longer bumps that the wheels follow, greater unsprung mass causes more energy to be absorbed by the wheels and makes the ride worse.

No difference. I have non-runflats.

Anyone else have a problem with this wiki?

I like this one...